I don't know about Sutil but in my case, 10 minutes after I do something stupid/wrong, I feel sorry for doing it. Lux has said that if Adrian had just offered a genuine apology he would have dropped the case. Adrian ponied up his lawyers and called the bluff, rather than having to apologise and now reality has caught up to him and it's game over.

I don't know about Sutil but in my case, 10 minutes after I do something stupid/wrong, I feel sorry for doing it. Lux has said that if Adrian had just offered a genuine apology he would have dropped the case. Adrian ponied up his lawyers and called the bluff, rather than having to apologise and now reality has caught up to him and it's game over.

Good Riddance IMO!

As every thing else in this case, how do you know this is the truth. Lux is saying this, Adrian is telling us the exact opposite - that he tried to get in contact with Lux, but he refused. So who is right? I don't know and you defintily don't know any better. But you jugde...

I spoke to Adrian personally a couple of years ago, it whas a nice chat with a nice and humble man. I know the history of Sutil - starting his motorsport career at the age of 14 (!) at Indoor Karting (!!!). He made it from Indoor Karts to F1 in merely ten years. For me that's exceptional talent - if you know that all other F1 drivers competed in proper Race Karts since they where 6 to 8 years old. And I hope you know how different Indoor and Outdoor Karting is!

To his F1 career: He started out in a total backmarker Team, showed gut progress over the years and helped his team to become a strong midfield runner in F1. Shame that he can't take advantage from this work this year. I shurely rate him higher than di Resta and Hülkenberg. And I am totally convinced that he would do a better job than Massa and Webber if he would drive for Ferrari or Red Bull.

I don't know about Sutil but in my case, 10 minutes after I do something stupid/wrong, I feel sorry for doing it. Lux has said that if Adrian had just offered a genuine apology he would have dropped the case. Adrian ponied up his lawyers and called the bluff, rather than having to apologise and now reality has caught up to him and it's game over.

Good Riddance IMO!

Actually, Sutil did try to apologise after the incident several times. Lux doesn't even deny this, he just said in court that "a phone call isn't enough" and that he expected Sutil to come to Luxembourg to apologise face-to-face. Considering Lux had no problems demanding money and Sutil sitting out several races via mail, i am not convinced the form of the apology was really an issue for him. IIRC, even the judge asked why he came up with the face-to-face apology only in court, but never mentioned it in his mails to Sutil - can't find that story though.

Actually, Sutil did try to apologise after the incident several times. Lux doesn't even deny this, he just said in court that "a phone call isn't enough" and that he expected Sutil to come to Luxembourg to apologise face-to-face. Considering Lux had no problems demanding money and Sutil sitting out several races via mail, i am not convinced the form of the apology was really an issue for him. IIRC, even the judge asked why he came up with the face-to-face apology only in court, but never mentioned it in his mails to Sutil - can't find that story though.

Yeah, I think it's pretty clear that Lux was more than happy about what happened. He wanted to kill Sutils career, he successfully made it. Just fits into the branding "Lotus" got for me now.. steal team names, break drivers careers.. the only point not making me wishing them a horrible season is Kimi, though I won't mind if they fail to make P5 in the WCC

Joking aside, yes I think his F1 career is over. Even though I grew to dislike Sutil, it's a shame because his talent was undeniable. I'd put him on par with Trulli when he was at his peak during the Renault years (which is funny, considering the history between those two).

His F1 career is likely over, which is a shame... most teams will stay away due to his conviction.

I agree that Sutil rates better than half the grid. As much as I like Paul, it was pretty annoying to constantly have the BBC yap about how he is the best thing since sliced bread while Sutil was clearly outpacing him.

If he can get his conviction overturned in a second trial, he may get a shot as a reserve driver in 2013... perhaps at Williams?

hes screwed with anything with a renault connection now surely?, unless lux pisses off renault xD

Lux is associated with Genii Capital, which owns a piece of Lotus and they then buy engines from the actual manufacturer, Renault. I really don't think that Lux has any more pull with Renault than any other Renault Powered Team does at this point.

Yeah, of course I have no idea who's telling what truths, and it's clear that Lux was on a mission for revenge. But as an uninformed outside observer it seems that A. Sutil was at fault for what happened (even if it was an acicdent), B. he could have done a lot more to smooth things over, and C. He vastly underestimated Lux and what would follow.

Difficult to say given the situation at Toro Rosso and how Alguersuari and Buemi seemed quite evenly matched. Still, a pairing of Alguersuari and Sutil would have been interesting and could have provided some interesting moments.

Too much kicking whilst a man is down. Sutil was a star of 2010 and came good after a mediocre start to 2011.

It looks as though it is over, but Bertrand Gachot raced for Larrousse and Pacific after his 1991 prison sentence.

It's quite amazing how much sh... people here are unloading on Sutil.

I, too, never liked Adrian, true, but to kick a man when he is down is not the proper style. And - his performances in 2010 and 2011 were not that bad either. Sorry for the ethical level some on the BB are showing.

I do believe (my impression here) that the delays on the FI announcement were based upon the team looking at ways to keep Adrian in the seat but due to how strong a contract they had with the Hulk (plus them not wishing to loose him) they had to go with the option of letting Adrian go at the last minute.

He did missout on the Williams seat based upon him wanting 1 year and the team wanting a 2 year deal so that ended as such.

What happens next for him? Maybe IRL, DTM or LMS at a guess. Out of F1 before he should have in my mind.

Sutil is an excellent driver he just hasn't been given enough of a chance in terms of a high performance car. Noone can say shit about his remarkable result in 2011 with Force India. He might not be a top quali driver but he is certainly a top race driver.

What really pisses me off is that Di Resta has a position when Sutil doesn't. Sutil is a better driver. And it also pisses me off that Williams chose Senna instead of considering Sutil. He is clearly better than any driver on the grid bar Mercedes drivers and up.

All of you dissing him because of the trial he faced are stupid and ignorant.

Sutil is an excellent driver he just hasn't been given enough of a chance in terms of a high performance car. Noone can say shit about his remarkable result in 2011 with Force India. He might not be a top quali driver but he is certainly a top race driver.

What really pisses me off is that Di Resta has a position when Sutil doesn't. Sutil is a better driver. And it also pisses me off that Williams chose Senna instead of considering Sutil. He is clearly better than any driver on the grid bar Mercedes drivers and up.

All of you dissing him because of the trial he faced are stupid and ignorant.

I think it is entirely fair for Sutil to lose his spot in FI because of his bar rage. F1 seats are so limited and coveted that the drivers actual ability isn't the end all trait to get into the sport. The term Pay Driver is used far too often but it does illustrate the fact that the worlds best drivers are all not in F1, if only because people with large financial backing can buy one of the F1 seats for their guy and thus force F1 worthy drivers into other series.

The fact that there are more than 25 drivers in the world better than sutil, it makes it easy to exclude him from the drivers market in F1 because of his booze rage personality.

With Sutil, f1 loses a driver who belonged to the better half of the grid and who performed excellently under pressure in 2011. I liked him and I think he deserves a second chance.

I like him too and also think he is certainly one of the better drivers. But in F1 you don't deserve anything for those reasons. Seats are given to people who have been extremely successful in the past and/or bring lots of money through sponsorship or marketing value. That's why Kimi got his comeback. And that's also why it will be very hard for Adrian to get a 2nd chance. Him being German doesn't help here, because Schumi and Fingerboy get all the attention. Ask Heidfeld about it.

Of course not, Hulk has already done more than that in his short F1 career (pole in Brazil for starters).

He will prove to be the right choice.

To me Hulkenberg is one of those who really need to prove that he is worth the seat... Because he failed against an old Barrichello who has probably peaked performancewise during his Ferrari days...He is same as Di Resta, hyped for nothing... At least for nothing exceptional... In the standings, both were comfortably beaten by their teammates...

I think there will be some drivers that will under perform this season, so there will be place for Sutil. He's experienced, fast and brings cash. Petrov, both HRT drivers, likely Pic, Senna and Massa will move probably to lower team. I think Kimi will disappoint, so there will be plenty of space for Sutil. He can get the place of every pay driver apart from Maldonado.

Won his first heat in style. I'm rooting for Charlotte Roche though who drove great as well, like she does nearly everything right. I would marry her on the spot
Joey Kelly (of the Kelly Family) also driving nicely this year. Fun event all in all